Improvement in self-acting presses



FFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN SELF-ACTINGVPRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.. 10,268, dated November 52.2, 1S53.

To all whom, it may concern,

Be it known thatl I, S. B. HoLT, of Vorthington, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Self-Acting Presses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the self-acting press. Fig. 2 is an external side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section of the same.

Similar letters of reference in each of the,

several fguresindicate corresponding parts.

The nature of my invention consists in'a certain method of constructing a press,where by the weight of the article being pressedand also that of a certain portion ofthe press itself, is rendered available as a motive power for facilitating` the operation and increasing the action of the press and causing it to perform the pressing operation in avery gradual and effectual manner, and thereby save a large amount of the labor now expended' in operating the ordinary presses. I

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

This press is constructed on the lever princi- A ple.

A represents the bed-plate,secured to amovable swinging frame, B. Said frame B is hung on a shaft, j', secured in the uprights of the main frame C, and forms a bearing for the frame B .to turn upon. rlhe front end of the frame B rests on a lever, D, which has its fulcrum at c, and is connected to the frame B, underneath of the bed-plate A, by means of a short connecting-rod, F, which is hung on the shaft c at one end, and attached at the other end by a pin, a,to the end S-of the lever D. The two uprights h are mounted on the front end of the main frame C, so as to serve as guides for the up-and-down motion of the frame B, and also as a support for the pin c, on which the lever D turns. The uprightsI, which form part of the frame B, are made of such shape that their upper ends overhang the center of the bed-plate, as shown in Fig. 2. In these projecting ends m the secured. loosely.. In the short end of this lever G a swinging follower, K, is secured by means of a pin, k, on which the follower turns freely, and thereby adjusts itself to the article being pressed. To the long end of the lever G is attached a curved rack-bar, L, whose opposite end is jointed to the end y of the lever D. Thus it will be seen that a continuous jointed connection is formed of all the movable parts from the rack-bar to the bed and follower.

' S is a small cog-wheel, which gears into the rack-bar L, and transmits the motion from its driving-shaft e, to which power is supplied by a crank-shaft, or other means, which has its bearings in the uprights of the main frame C.

O is a ratchet-wheel for controlling the action of the press.`

The press is represented as being raised and ready for pressing in Fig. 2. Now, suppose an article to be pressed is placed on the bedplate A, its weight and that of the lever G will cause the follower and bed-plate to descend simultaneously, with which the 'back ends of thelevers are elevated with a force proportionate to the length of their lever-arms from their fulerurns, and made to transfer its power to the follower, and exert its pressure upon the articleas shown in Fig. 3. Additional power may be transmitted from the driving-shaft e to the pressing-lever G, if desired. The shaft serves to give an up or down movement to the press through the small pinion and rack-bar, the ratchet O. and pawl j controlling these movements. After the pressing operation has been completed, the bed-plate is elevated to increase the space between follower and article, and to allow of the follower being thrown upward out of the way for the easier removal ofthe article.

' I do not claim in general the device of making the weight of the article pressed act as the pressing power by making the press itself rise and fall on a system of levers, or other mechanical powers; but

Vhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

So arranging the lever G, and providing it with a self-adjusting follower, in combination with the lever D, and the bed-plate with its bearing or fulcrum of the pressing-lever G is of the pinion and rack-bar, which receive motion from a. driving-shaft, the Whole being const1ueted,arranged,and operating substantially as herein set forth and described.

S. R. HOLT.

Vitnesses:

GEORGE TAYLOR, EDWARD MALLORY. 

